introduction
I
✦
INTRO 8
delight in the symmetry of Scripture. I love the perfect way that it fits together. Just as God created the cosmos to be an orderly arrangement of parts, each working in harmony with the whole, so the Word of God is flawlessly congruent. All its parts speak the same message, each enhancing it and unveiling its mysteries. When I open my Bible, my prayer is, “Breathe Your Word upon me.” I hunger to hear the living voice of God. The riches are stored in the secret places that only He knows. This study of the name of Jesus uses the whole Scripture. The name of Jesus is declared from the dawn of creation to the last glimpse we are given into the things to come. From Genesis to Revelation, the name is exalted. This study uses as its anchor points the seven “I Am” declarations that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. “I am the bread of life.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the gate.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I am the true and living way.” “I am the true vine.” Each declaration claims the eternal I Am name as His own. The first three study days of each week will examine one I Am declaration. The fourth day will tie the I Am declaration of Jesus to an I Am name of God in the Old Testament. The fifth study day will look into the Tabernacle and see the shadow of the I Am declaration. Primarily, the study is a walk through the Gospel of John. John is giving his eyewitness account of those things that he saw and heard. He is writing it 60 or 70 years after the events so that he has maturity and depth from which to interpret what he witnessed. His memory of events is kept fresh and accurate by the Holy Spirit. Keep your Bible nearby as you complete this study. You will be asked to look up and read Scripture. In the writing, I wanted us to hear Jesus speak as His Jewish contemporaries heard Him, not as we hear Him through the filter of our twenty-first century, possibly gentile ears. I think it will change the way you read the Gospel of John. I think it will enhance your understanding of His Name. Let me explain a couple of items to you that you will encounter as you do this study. John uses the term “the Jews” to refer to the Jewish religious leaders. They were mostly Pharisees. The Pharisees were a group of men who built their lives around the study and interpretation of Torah. The Pharisees had a great deal of influence over the daily lives of the common people and certainly over their understanding and observance of the Torah. The Hebrew word torah means “instruction.” The Hebrew letters that comprise the word torah paint a picture of a hand swinging out and pointing the way. They acknowledged the written Torah — the first five books of the Bible, or the Pentateuch — and they gave equal weight to the oral Torah, the system of interpretations